Editorial: Marketing and Consumers in an Era of Disruption Caused by COVID-19 Pandemic Ibrahim Sirkeci1 - Transnational Press London
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May 2020
Volume: 8, No: 1, pp. 1 – 6
ISSN: 2041-4684
e-ISSN: 2041-4692
TransnationalMarket.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33182/tmj.v8i1.954
Editorial: Marketing and
Consumers in an Era of Disruption
Caused by COVID-19 Pandemic Ibrahim Sirkeci1
Six months ago, nobody would think of a disruption in such a scale.
COVID-19 pandemic starting in China, spreading across the grids of
global human mobility (Sirkeci and Yucesahin, 2020) sent shock waves
around the world and quickly brought life to a halt in many countries.
Not only the anxiety and fear of a deadly virus spreading around but
also the measures taken against it perhaps changed our lives as
consumers, marketers, and researchers. The new norm is in progress
as the old is troubled.
Marketing theory offers some insights into the potential impact of such
disruptive events. COVID-19 pandemic with lockdowns across the
world has definitely an impact on brand loyalty, switching behaviour
as well as sustainability concerns among consumers. At the same
time, organisations and marketers have felt a sudden need to switch
to digital fully or partially depending on the sector and products and
services offered. This is a process testing resilience. We will see some
brands and organisations disappear while others shine. More agile
and resourceful organisations are likely to survive and succeed,
whereas those with limited ability taking the hit.
Airlines, tourism, out of home entertainment and hospitality industries
have slumped under lockdown measures. It is important to recognise
lengthy periods of lockdown are likely to lead to behavioural shifts.
People will develop different interests and habits, although the current
evidence is not conclusive (Tucker and Yu, 2020). Their return to these
products and services are not guaranteed. “With social distancing
keeping many people at home, we are seeing major shifts in
behavioral trends” (Balis, 2020). Therefore, the troubling effect of the
pandemic will be felt stronger. It is important to spend time now to join
the bandwagon of creating entirely new businesses and business
1 Ibrahim Sirkeci, Professor and Head of Marketing Subject Cluster, Regent’s University London,
Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NS, United Kingdom.
E-mail: sirkecii@regents.ac.uk.
© 2020 TRANSNATIONAL MARKETING JOURNAL2 Editorial: Marketing and Consumers in an Era of Disruption
models which will emerge from this crisis irrespective of our reactions
as individuals and organisations.
We are adjusting to the new reality or realities. The outcomes,
reactions and responses are varying around the world. This is clear, for
example, according to a McKinsey report2, consumer optimism wildly
varies between countries such as Japan and India. One sideline story
here is the resilience of regional and national cultural differences. This
will be reflected in performances during and after the pandemic and
very likely to have a long-lasting effect.
Mark Kitson of Marketing Week urged marketers to prepare for long
term effects.3 Another McKinsey report4 rightly pointed out the need
to tap into consumer pulse, reactions and insights, to prepare for the
future as the sense of trust and loyalty will be hard hit while consumers
shop around in a rapidly changing marketing environment.
Many brands have also rushed to get where their customers are. For
example, in the UK, some companies joined the effort in supporting
the National Health Service5 (i.e. “associate your brand with good”
as put by Balis 2020). Nevertheless, it is difficult to estimate how long it
will take, for example, people to join the crowds in outdoor
entertainment as was the case prior to the pandemic.
Communication channels are likely to shift. Although a big switch to
online and social media marketing is expected, it will remain an open
question until it happens. Another UK survey showed that COVID-19
crisis had forced about 85 per cent of marketing campaigns to
change.6
Many marketers around the world have been working remotely from
home since early February 2020. This is part of the new reality. They are
pondering with questions about the ways in which organisations now
should be talking to their customers? Where to spend marketing
dollars? How to organise work across teams? What are the keys to
ensure staying in business? What should be the stance(s) over the
sustainability of the planet, clients, consumers, businesses,
communities, and families? One thing is for sure that much more
marketing research and thinking will be needed to assess the new
reality and develop appropriate strategies to deliver in this
2 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/how-marketing-
leaders-can-both-manage-the-coronavirus-crisis-and-plan-for-the-future. Accessed: 14/04/2020.
3 https://www.marketingweek.com/mark-ritson-marketing-covid-19/. Accessed: 12/04/2020.
4 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/adapting-
customer-experience-in-the-time-of-coronavirus. Accessed: 16/04/2020.
5 https://www.marketingweek.com/brand-purpose-coronavirus-crisis/. Accessed: 23/03/2020.
6 https://econsultancy.com/stats-roundup-coronavirus-impact-on-marketing-ecommerce-
advertising/. Accessed: 10/04/2020.
www.tplondon.com/tmj3
environment. As Zoe Cheng, head of growth at Shanghai-based
Cosmose stated amid this crisis, “there is no need to stop marketing”.
This is why we have decided to run a call for papers for a special issue
on coronavirus pandemic and its impact on marketing, markets and
consumers. Please see below and check our website and share it with
colleagues and students in and outside academia. We believe in the
value of ongoing debate and engagement over this live disruption.
Transnational Marketing Journal is now celebrating its eight years. We
have managed to build a quality standard and achieved success in
reaching wider audiences and bringing interesting research and
scholarship to an international audience.
In this issue of the Journal, we have articles dealing with a range of
case studies from the airline industry to tourism and mobile phone
services. Kelleci and Taşkın examine the role of crowdsourcing in
Turkish defence and aerospace industry offering a systematic,
empirical innovative assessment of crowdsourcing which has been a
gap in the field. Wismiarsi, Shihab, Hatta, and Tjandra reflect on one
of the fastest growing start ups in Indonesia: Pegipegi, an online travel
agent. This can be a good learning material for students of marketing.
Masoud evaluates and discusses the effect of service quality on
customer satisfaction in mobile phone services in the Emirates. Key
predictors of customer satisfaction through dimensions of service
quality are identified and could be useful for marketing planners in this
sector. Mohammed, Homaid, and Alaswadi studied the determinants
of young consumers attitudes towards green products in Saudi
Arabia. They argued that collectivist culture is the best predictor of
green purchasing intentions of youth in this distinct market. Al Armoti,
keeping us in the region, examined the impact of environmental
context on entrepreneurship strategies in hotel and tourism industry.
Heiets’ article, in a way, compliments this discussion with a focus on
the marketing strategies of Qantas and Thai airline companies in
search of an optimum.
As usual, we invite all interested academics and practitioners in the
field of marketing to submit their work to Transnational Marketing
Journal. Articles with a clear international focus and substantial
contribution are particularly welcome. If you are interested in and
keen to lead scholarship in this field, we would like to hear from you to
join as area editors or associate editors, or editorial board members.
We will be glad if you could please share the call for papers for our
special issue copied below.
© 2020 TRANSNATIONAL MARKETING JOURNAL - Transnational Press London4 Editorial: Marketing and Consumers in an Era of Disruption
References
Balis, J. (2020). Brand Marketing Through the Coronavirus Crisis.
Harvard Business Review. Available: https://hbr.org/2020/04/brand-
marketing-through-the-coronavirus-crisis. Accessed: 6/4/2020.
Sirkeci, I., & Yucesahin, M. M. (2020). Coronavirus and Migration:
Analysis of Human Mobility and the Spread of Covid-19. Migration
Letters, 17(2), 379-398. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i2.935.
Tucker, C. E. and Yu, S. (2020). The Early Effects of Coronavirus-Related
Social Distancing Restrictions on Brands (1 April, 2020). Available at
SSRN. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3566612.
Call for Papers for Special Issue on
“Coronavirus Pandemic and Disruptive
Impact on Marketing and Consumers”
Transnational Marketing Journal
ISSN: 2041-4684 | e-ISSN: 2041-4692
transnationalmarket.com
This call for papers welcomes scholars to contribute to the special
issue on the theme of coronavirus and its impact on markets,
marketing, consumers and consumption. In March 2020, the World
Health Organisation declared the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 as a
pandemic. The new virus accountable for an outbreak of respiratory
illness has thought to be originated in Wuhan, the capital of the
Hubei Province, China in November 2019. In a matter of a few months
once a local epidemic took a global scale due to human mobility. As
the COVID-19 cases and death numbers have emerged across the
world, regional and national lockdowns followed. Perhaps not the
COVID-19 but the measures followed have had a significant impact
on markets and consumers. In many countries, initial reaction to
lockdowns was rushing to supermarkets to stock what is considered to
be basic items. Predictably, the COVID-19 crisis adversely affected
sectors beyond healthcare. While certain sectors had to close down
for lengthy periods, lay off staff, others rushed to move their operations
online. At the same time, some others saw sharp increases in their
business volumes while also facing supply shortages. We are facing a
global crisis where the vast majority of businesses are struggling to go
“business as usual” and consumers are facing the challenges and a
lockdown consumption culture seems to emerge.
www.tplondon.com/tmj5
Some industries had greater damage than others, as such, the legal
restrictions and the closure of borders eliminated the functionality of
airline, tourism and hospitality industries which are often, by nature,
transnational. While some other businesses, such as, sportswear, sports
equipment, cosmetic, fashion and many others took the opportunity
to upscale by adapting and manoeuvring the digital landscape to
render revenue. Consumers, on the other hand, are shifting their
buying habits, increasingly exposed to substitutes, and new brands.
We have already observed panic food and medical supply
purchasing, spending more time at home reduced the interaction
with bricks and mortar but increased the sales of online businesses.
The Editors of Transnational Marketing Journal invite researchers,
scholars, practitioners and policy makers to submit their research
articles, case studies, viewpoints, opinion pieces, debates, and
reviews on this current crisis disrupting marketing as well as all realms
of public and private. We aim to facilitate timely, swift and globally
accessible research and informed perspectives on this critical global
challenge.
The special issue aims to address the following, but not limited to:
• Media: polarisation, misinformation and the role of social
media during the pandemic
• Macro Factors: Economy, Politics, Society and Technology
• Digital switch at haste: industries, consumers, markets
• Troubling promotions: advertising, PR, communication
strategies in and beyond lockdown
• Environmental impact of the pandemic: How businesses are
shifting patterns of activities and what are the outcomes of
such actions.
• Value chain: scarcity, supply and distribution.
• Transnational scope: collaborative efforts, the best practices
across borders.
• International competition and coopetition
• Brand loyalty, brand switching: substitutes, new markets,
market entry opportunities
• Country and city case studies
Paper Submission
Submitted articles must not have been previously published or
currently submitted for journal publication elsewhere. As an author,
you are responsible for understanding and adhering to author
guidelines
© 2020 TRANSNATIONAL MARKETING JOURNAL - Transnational Press London6 Editorial: Marketing and Consumers in an Era of Disruption
(https://journals.tplondon.com/index.php/tmj/about/submissions#au
thorGuidelines).
Submit online:
https://journals.tplondon.com/index.php/tmj/author/submit/1
Please read the guidelines before submitting your manuscript. Each
paper will be subject to a double-blind review process. To facilitate
timely discussion and contribution to the ongoing debates over
COVID-19, accepted papers will be published on Early View online
promptly, not waiting for the print edition.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any queries.
Important Dates:
Deadline of Manuscript Submission: 10 June 2020
Publication Date: 1 October 2020
Special Issue Editors:
Dr Lilit Baghdasaryan and Prof Ibrahim Sirkeci, Faculty of Business and
Management, Regent’s University London, UK
E-mail: sirkecii@regents.ac.uk and baghdasl@regents.ac.uk
Transnational Marketing Journal is indexed and abstracted in:
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• Transnational Marketing Journal is also included in the American
Sociological Association’s Publication Options Journal Directory
Transnational Marketing Journal
ISSN: 2041-4684 | e-ISSN: 2041-4692
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